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With Access to State Alert System Reduced, Madison Pushes Local Alert Platform

As the state begins to restrict Madison’s access to its extensive emergency alert system, the town is continuing to urge residents to sign up for an alternative—and more comprehensive—town communications system. The local program, launched late in the summer, is currently well short of a targeted number of sign-ups meant to ensure local officials can effectively reach residents in urgent situations.

First Selectman Peggy Lyons launched a new town-focused platform in late August 2020. She told The Source that as of the beginning of 2021, only about 1,500 people have signed up to get alerts.

That is problematic, she said, because the CTAlerts system, which Madison was able to use through much of 2020 when storms threatened the town or other important information needed to get out, is now inaccessible to local officials as the state has flatly denied municipalities access to its system.

“The state is now saying it needs to be life and death or an urgent matter,” Lyons said. “So that’s very different than just telling people to prepare for a storm. So that’s what we’re working through, so I think just the more people we can get to sign up for the town service, the less we have to worry about that.”

A gusty winter storm that dropped more than a foot of snow in Madison early in December 2020 did not qualify as urgent enough for local officials to send out notices via CTAlerts, Lyons said. She said the town even contacted the appropriate state officials directly to find out if there was any way to use their system with the potential urgency of a blizzard.

“We said, ‘This doesn’t qualify?’ And they said, ‘No,’” Lyons said.

Other potential urgent events like power outages, coronavirus updates, or road closures will not be included in the state alert system most likely, Lyons said—though the state will sometimes send out warnings about local events without the direct input of local officials.

“If the state sends it out, they’re covering the whole state, where if it’s a storm, it’s very different on the coast versus what’s happening middle of the state, so you want to get specific advice for your town, especially if it’s dealing with flooding or hurricane wind-related issues,” Lyons said.

Around 13,000 people were receiving alerts earlier in 2020 when Madison used that system, Lyons said. A goal for the new town specific platform would be between 7,000 and 10,000, according to Lyons.

Lyons said she believes a lot of residents have looked to the town’s Facebook page for these updates, though she described the platform used for the new system, which can include voice alerts and geographically specific information, as offering a lot more.

“Once people sign up for it, I think they’ll be pretty pleased that they’re getting it,” she said.

The new system also allows direct voice calls for residents who are less tech savvy and don’t want to download an app or fiddle with their smartphone, she said. Putting her weekly updates in the form of a recorded voicemail is also a possibility.

“If we do get a lot of seniors, I’m happy to record those [updates] as well,” she said.

Lyons said she plans to meet with other officials in the coming weeks, and possibly look to push the new platform more aggressively, with months of winter weather still ahead.

Residents can sign up for the Madison alerts system at www.madisonct.org/1073/Alerts.